Interesting find on GunBroker

Not if you are a photographer and get part of you income from photography
If this is the case than you should know better.

Know better than what, have you own web site, selling on line and in galleries? We are not talking about stupid people that post photos on Flickr but professional photographers whom do no better. I sell on my web site, if any photos are used as wallpaper without my consistent, it is stealing

Not at all, if you post a photo online then people can do whatever they want with it. I have a ton of pictures on my laptop, and I only took a couple of them. Did I steal them? No.

No you can not do anything you want with them and Yes you did steal. Read the photography copyright laws. If is it not a free stock photo and states that on the site and you did not ask permission it is steeling.

I require consent for use of any of my photos in anyway. Some people like friends have asked to use mine as wallpaper and I tell them yes. The thing is you have to ask permission. When I do work for any architectural companies I write a stipulation that they can reproduce my photos for marketing purposes or for using in the building for hanging works but all photos have to be accredited to me if reproduced with my name and company as being the photographer.

If you think it is OK using someone else’s photos for what ever you want think about this. Spend $500 on a tripod, $500 on a lens, $1000 on a DSLR, another $2000 on packs, cable releases, filters, memory cards, software. Then drive 2 hours to climb down a mountain to take photos of a waterfall that took all day long. Then work on the photos for hours at home on a computer. Then have someone take them and do whatever they want with them. Don’t think so.
 
The thing is you have to ask permission

If you post a photo publicly I don't have to ask a thing, right click, save picture as.

We are not talking about stupid people that post photos on Flickr

I was. Sure it's a bummer when you work hard on a shot then someone just "steals" it, but to avoid that, don't post pics online where people can easily "steal" them. I could see if the guy was trying to sell the picture itself but he isn't.
 
Ad now says " Lots of inquiries about the main pic: No this is not MY GC, because of camera issues, I scouted for images that represented an EXACT match."

Good job on calling him out. He should have put that one there first.
 
Ad now says " Lots of inquiries about the main pic: No this is not MY GC, because of camera issues, I scouted for images that represented an EXACT match."

Good job on calling him out. He should have put that one there first.

Exactly! If he would have, this would have been a non-issue. GunBroker emailed me and they said they contacted him to remove the photo. He hasn't yet but at least he's put some kind of disclaimer up now.

Once again, I just want to reiterate that I don't care if he uses my picture but he should have at least asked permission or put a disclaimer in his description. There's nothing wrong with using a stock photo of a gun when you're selling a new one. Bud's Guns does it all the time...no big deal. But when your selling a used gun, especially one around $1500, you should be using an actual photo of the actual weapon. People dropping that kind of coin don't want to be misled by using someone elses photo that they know is not a stock photo, therefore thinking it's the actual item. I've sold and bought enough things off auction sites that I know the importance of a quality picture depicting the item for sale.

Right or wrong, it's one thing to save or copy someone elses photos for your own personal use or enjoyment. It's a completely different issue when you do it for nothing more than profit. Yes, I was flattered that he used my picture buy I honestly felt he used it for nothing more than to maximize his profit margin. Sure it would have been interesting to sit back and see how much "my" gun went for but that would have put my integrity level on the same plane as this guys. I couldn't with good conscience let that happen.

I appreciate everyone's input and any inquiries you sent this guy regarding the picture. At least it made him honest with the bidders even if he doesn't pull the picture down.
 
There are ways to java script an image and disable right click functions; meaning no right click, save as. I have done this in the past with some of my images; not here, as I have only posted one just for fun.

Yes, copyright is the photographers. However, in this day and age it is just plain ridiculous to assume that any image, even watermarked or with a copyright on it, will not be "stolen".

Flat bed scanners and computers help put more than a few professional photographers on the ropes.

And by the way, there are always ways around such java scripting; go figure.
 
And by the way, there are always ways around such java scripting; go figure.

drag and drop

simply left click the image, then drag it to your desktop


there are ways around that as well though
but there's currently no way around taking a screen shot then cropping the photo out

i'm very protective of my better photos, it's become quite a PITA
 
i'm very protective of my better photos, it's become quite a PITA

About the only way that I have seen is to reduce the image clarity to almost zilch. Then no one wants to "steal" a picture of your new Sig, or wait is that a pig?

And as a totally different way of looking at it:
Certain areas/views of notable landmarks (think Golden Gate Bridge) have been copyrighted! You can not stand on a certain piece of ground that someone has copyrighted and take a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge from that point of view! Why, because the photographer has copyrighted that view and wants to sell you his image!

At least I remember reading about this years ago.
 
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Better late than never

Probably due to the harrasment that the seller exposed himself too, the item now reflects that the picture is not of the actual piece. Good catch on your part and maybe he learns a lesson from the ordeal.
 
Once again, I just want to reiterate that I don't care if he uses my picture but he should have at least asked permission or put a disclaimer in his description.

I agree that he should have had the disclaimer in the ad from the start. I think it is unreasonable to expect him to ask permission to use it though. There's no telling where he got the picture and he may have had no way of knowing who took it. It may have been copied several times before he found it. The OP knows where he originally posted it. We don't know where the seller copied it from.
 
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Maybe he did copy it from someone else who copied it. But, right now (11:43 AM CST,) after he's been contacted by the actual photographer who told him that it isn't OK to use the photo, he's still using the photo! It's still part of the listing.

Aside from misrepresenting the item by showing one he isn't selling, he also has no respect for the actual photographer who took the picture.

Unethical thing #1: Deceiving potential buyers.
Unethical thing #2: Using someone else's work to make a buck.

This seller is a snake.*

* Maybe I shouldn't be insulting innocent legless reptiles by comparing them to this guy.
 
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